The Complete Memoires of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

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four chairs, and two small tables, and rented to me very cheaply.Seeing the enormous stoves, I concluded they must consume a vastamount of wood, but I was mistaken. Russia is the land of stoves asVenice is that of cisterns. I have inspected the interior of thesestoves in summer-time as minutely as if I wished to find out thesecret of making them; they are twelve feet high by six broad, andare capable of warming a vast room. They are only refuelled once intwenty-four hours, for as soon as the wood is reduced to the state ofcharcoal a valve is shut in the upper part of the stove.

It is only in the houses of noblemen that the stoves are refuelledtwice a day, because servants are strictly forbidden to close thevalve, and for a very good reason.

If a gentleman chance to come home and order his servants to warm hisroom before he goes to bed, and if the servant is careless enough toclose the valve before the wood is reduced to charcoal, then themaster sleeps his last sleep, being suffocated in three or fourhours. When the door is opened in the morning he is found dead, andthe poor devil of a servant is immediately hanged, whatever he maysay. This sounds severe, and even cruel; but it is a necessaryregulation, or else a servant would be able to get rid of his masteron the smallest provocation.

After I had made an agreement for my board and lodging, both of whichwere very cheap (now St. Petersburg, is as dear as London), I broughtsome pieces of furniture which were necessaries for me, but whichwere not as yet much in use in Russia, such as a commode, a bureau, &c.

German is the language principally spoken in St. Petersburg, and Idid not speak German much better then than I do now, so I had a gooddeal of difficulty in making myself understood, and usually excitedmy auditors to laughter.

After dinner my landlord told me that the Court was giving a maskedball to five thousand persons to last sixty hours. He gave me aticket, and told me I only needed to shew it at the entrance of theimperial palace.

I decided to use the ticket, for I felt that I should like to bepresent at so numerous an assembly, and as I had my domino still byme a mask was all I wanted. I went to the palace in a sedan-chair,and found an immense crowd assembled, and dancing going on in severalhalls in each of which an orchestra was stationed. There were longcounters loaded with eatables and drinkables at which those who werehungry or thirsty ate or drank as much as they liked. Gaiety andfreedom reigned everywhere, and the light of a thousand wax candlesilluminated the hall. Everything was wonderful, and all the more sofrom its contrast with the cold and darkness that were without. Allat once I heard a masquer beside me say to another,--

"There's the czarina."

We soon saw Gregory Orloff, for his orders were to follow the empressat a distance.

I followed the masquer, and I was soon persuaded that it was reallythe empress, for everybody was repeating it, though no one openlyrecognized her. Those who really did not know her jostled her in thecrowd, and I imagined that she would be delighted at being treatedthus, as it was a proof of the success of her disguise. Severaltimes I saw her speaking in Russian to one masquer and another. Nodoubt she exposed her vanity to some rude shocks, but she had alsothe inestimable advantage of hearing truths which her courtiers wouldcertainly not tell her. The masquer who was pronounced to be Orlofffollowed her everywhere, and did not let her out of his sight for amoment. He could not be mistaken, as he was an exceptionally tallman and had a peculiar carriage of the head.

I arrested my progress in a hall where the French square dance wasbeing performed, and suddenly there appeared a masquer disguised inthe Venetian style. The costume was so complete that I at once sethim down as a fellow-countryman, for very few strangers can imitateus so as to escape detection. As it happened, he came and stood nextto me.

"One would think you were a Venetian," I said to him in French.

"So I am."

"Like myself."

"I am not jesting."

"No more am I."

"Then let us speak in Venetian."

"Do you begin, and I will reply."

We began our conversation, but when he came to the word Sabato,Saturday, which is a Sabo in Venetian, I discovered that he was areal Venetian, but not from Venice itself. He said I was right, andthat he judged from my accent that I came from Venice.

"Quite so," said I.

"I thought Bernadi was the only Venetian besides myself in St.Petersburg."

"You see you are mistaken."

"My name is Count Volpati di Treviso."

"Give me your address, and I will come and tell you who I am, for Icannot do so here."

"Here it is."

After leaving the count I continued my progress through thiswonderful hall, and two or three hours after I was attracted by thevoice of a female masquer speaking Parisian French in a highfalsetto, such as is common at an opera ball.

I did not recognize the voice but I knew the style, and felt quitecertain that the masquer must be one of my old friends, for she spokewith the intonations and phraseology which I had rendered popular inmy chief places of resort at Paris.

I was curious to see who it could be, and not wishing to speak beforeI knew her, I had the patience to wait till she lifted her mask, andthis occurred at the end of an hour. What was my surprise to seeMadame Baret, the stocking-seller of the Rue St. Honor& My love awokefrom its long sleep, and coming up to her I said, in a falsettovoice,--

"I am your friend of the 'Hotel d'Elbeuf.'"

She was puzzled, and looked the picture of bewilderment. I whisperedin her ear, "Gilbert Baret, Rue des Prouveres," and certain otherfacts which could only be known to herself and a fortunate lover.

She saw I knew her inmost secrets, and drawing me away she begged meto tell her who I was.

"I was your lover, and a fortunate one, too," I replied; "but beforeI tell you my name, with whom are you, and how are you?"

"Very well; but pray do not divulge what I tell you. I left Pariswith M. d'Anglade, counsellor in the Court of Rouen. I lived happilyenough for some time with him, and then left him to go with atheatrical manager, who brought me here as an actress under the nameof de l'Anglade, and now I am kept by Count Rzewuski, the Polishambassador. And now tell me who you are?"

Feeling sure of enjoying her again, I lifted my mask. She gave a cryof joy, and exclaimed,--

"My good angel has brought you to St. Petersburg."

"How do you mean?"

"Rzewuski is obliged to go back to Poland, and now I count on you toget me out of the country, for I can no longer continue in a stationfor which I was not intended, since I can neither sing nor act."

She gave me her address, and I left her delighted with my discovery.After having passed half an hour at the counter, eating and drinkingof the best, I returned to the crowd and saw my fair stocking-sellertalking to Count Volpati. He had seen her with me, and hastened toenquire my name of her. However, she was faithful to our mutualpromise, and told him I was her husband, though the Venetian did notseem to give the least credence to this piece of information.

At last I was tired and left the ball, and went to bed intending togo to mass in the morning. I slept for some time and woke, but as itwas still dark I turned on the other side and went to sleep again.At last I awoke again, and seeing the daylight stealing through mydouble windows, I sent for a hairdresser, telling my man to makehaste as I wanted to hear mass on the first Sunday after my arrivalin St. Petersburg.

"But sir," said he, "the first Sunday was yesterday; we are at Mondaynow."

"What! Monday?"

"Yes, sir."

I had spent twenty-seven hours in bed, and after laughing at themishap I felt as if I could easily believe it, for my hunger was likethat of a cannibal.

This is the only day which I really lost in my life; but I do notweep like the Roman emperor, I laugh. But this is not the onlydifference between Titus and Casanova.

I called on Demetrio Papanelopulo, the Greek merchant, who was to payme a hundred roubles a month. I was also commended to him by M. daLoglio, and I had an excellent reception. He begged me to come anddine with him every day, paid me the roubles for the month due, andassured me that he had honoured my bill drawn at Mitau. He alsofound me a reliable servant, and a carriage at eighteen roubles, orsix ducats per month. Such cheapness has, alas! departed for ever.

The next day, as I was dining with the worthy Greek and youngBernardi, who was afterwards poisoned, Count Volpati came in with thedessert, and told us how he had met a Venetian at the ball who hadpromised to come and see him.

"The Venetian would have kept his promise," said I, "if he had nothad a long sleep of twenty-seven hours. I am the Venetian, and amdelighted to continue our acquaintance."

The count was about to leave, and his departure had already beenannounced in the St. Petersburg Gazette. The Russian custom is notto give a traveller his passports till a fortnight has elapsed afterthe appearance of his name in the paper. This regulation is for theadvantage of tradesmen, while it makes foreigners think twice beforethey contract any debts.

The next day I took a letter of introduction to M. Pietro IvanovitchMelissino, colonel and afterwards general of artillery. The letterwas written by Madame da Loglio, who was very intimate withMelissino. I was most politely welcomed, and after presenting me tohis pleasant wife, he asked me once for all to sup with him everynight. The house was managed in the French style, and both play andsupper were conducted without any ceremony. I met there Melissino'selder brother, the procurator of the Holy Synod and husband of thePrincess Dolgorouki. Faro went on, and the company was composed oftrustworthy persons who neither boasted of their gains nor bewailedtheir losses to anyone, and so there was no fear of the Governmentdiscovering this infrigement of the law against gaming. The bank washeld by Baron Lefort, son of the celebrated admiral of Peter theGreat. Lefort was an example of the inconstancy of fortune; he wasthen in disgrace on account of a lottery which he had held at Moscowto celebrate the coronation of the empress, who had furnished himwith the necessary funds. The lottery had been broken and the factwas attributed to the baron's supposed dishonesty.

I played for small stakes and won a few roubles. I made friends withBaron Lefort at supper, and he afterwards told me of the vicissitudeshe had experienced.

As I was praising the noble calmness with which a certain prince hadlost a thousand roubles to him, he laughed and said that the finegamester I had mentioned played upon credit but never paid.

"How about his honour?"

"It is not affected by the non-payment of gaming debts. It is anunderstood thing in Russia that one who plays on credit and loses maypay or not pay as he wishes, and the winner only makes himselfridiculous by reminding the loser of his debt."

"Then the holder of the bank has the right to refuse to accept betswhich are not backed by ready money."

"Certainly; and nobody has a right to be offended with him for doingso. Gaming is in a very bad state in Russia. I know young men ofthe highest rank whose chief boast is that they know how to conquerfortune; that is, to cheat. One of the Matuschkins goes so far as tochallenge all foreign cheats to master him. He has just receivedpermission to travel for three years, and it is an open secret thathe wishes to travel that he may exercise his skill. He intendsreturning to Russia laden with the spoils of the dupes he has made."

A young officer of the guards named Zinowieff, a relation of theOrloffs, whom I had met at Melissino's, introduced me to Macartney,the English ambassador, a young man of parts and fond of pleasure.He had fallen in love with a young lady of the Chitroff family, andmaid of honour to the empress, and finding his affection reciprocateda baby was the result. The empress disapproved strongly of thispiece of English freedom, and had the ambassador recalled, though sheforgave her maid of honour. This forgiveness was attributed to theyoung lady's skill in dancing. I knew the brother of this lady, afine and intelligent young officer. I had the good fortune to beadmitted to the Court, and there I had the pleasure of seeing Mdlle.Chitroff dancing, and also Mdlle. Sievers, now Princesss, whom I sawagain at Dresden four years ago with her daughter, an extremelygenteel young princess. I was enchanted with Mdlle. Sievers, andfelt quite in love with her; but as we were never introduced I had noopportunity of declaring my passion. Putini, the castrato, was highin her favour, as indeed he deserved to be, both for his talents andthe beauties of his person.

The worthy Papanelopulo introduced me to Alsuwieff, one of theministers, a man of wit and letters, and only one of the kind whom Imet in Russia. He had been an industrious student at the Universityof Upsala, and loved wine, women, and good cheer. He asked me todine with Locatelli at Catherinhoff, one of the imperial mansions,which the empress had assigned to the old theatrical manager for theremainder of his days. He was astonished to see me, and I was moreastonished still to find that he had turned taverner, for he gave anexcellent dinner every day to all who cared to pay a rouble,exclusive of wine. M. d'Alsuwieff introduced me to his colleague inthe ministry, Teploff, whose vice was that he loved boys, and hisvirtue that he had strangled Peter III.

Madame Mecour, the dancer, introduced me to her lover, Ghelaghin,also a minister. He had spent twenty years of his life in Siberia.

A letter from Da Loglio got me a warm welcome from the castratoLuini, a delightful man, who kept a splendid table. He was the loverof Colonna, the singer, but their affection seemed to me a torment,for they could scarce live together in peace for a single day. AtLuini's house I met another castrato, Millico, a great friend of thechief huntsman, Narischkin, who also became one of my friends. ThisNarischkin, a pleasant and a well-informed man, was the husband ofthe famous Maria Paulovna. It was at the chief huntsman's splendidtable that I met Calogeso Plato, now archbishop of Novgorod, and thenchaplain to the empress. This monk was a Russian, and a master ofruses, understood Greek, and spoke Latin and French, and was whatwould be called a fine man. It was no wonder that he rose to such aheight, as in Russia the nobility never lower themselves by acceptingchurch dignities.

Da Loglio had given me a letter for the Princess Daschkoff, and Itook it to her country house, at the distance of three versts fromSt. Petersburg. She had been exiled from the capital, because,having assisted Catherine to ascend the throne, she claimed to shareit with her.

I found the princess mourning for the loss of her husband. Shewelcomed me kindly, and promised to speak to M. Panin on my behalf;and three days later she wrote to me that I could call on thatnobleman as soon as I liked. This was a specimen of the empress'smagnanimity; she had disgraced the princess, but she allowed herfavourite minister to pay his court to her every evening. I haveheard, on good authority, that Panin was not the princess's lover,but her father. She is now the President of the Academy of Science,and I suppose the literati must look upon her as another Minerva, orelse they would be ashamed to have a woman at their head. Forcompleteness' sake the Russians should get a woman to command theirarmies, but Joan d'Arcs are scarce.

Melissino and I were present at an extraordinary ceremony on the Dayof the Epiphany, namely the blessing of the Neva, then covered withfive feet of ice.

After the benediction of the waters children were baptized by beingplunged into a large hole which had been made in the ice. On the dayon which I was present the priest happened to let one of the childrenslip through his hands.

"Drugoi!" he cried.

That is, "Give me another." But my surprise may be imagined when Isaw that the father and mother of the child were in an ecstasy ofjoy; they were certain that the babe had been carried straight toheaven. Happy ignorance!

I had a letter from the Florentine Madame Bregonci for her friend theVenetian Roccolini, who had left Venice to go and sing at the St.Petersburg Theatre, though she did not know a note of music, and hadnever appeared on the stage. The empress laughed at her, and saidshe feared there was no opening in St. Petersburg for her peculiartalents, but the Roccolini, who was known as La Vicenza, was not thewoman to lose heart for so small a check. She became an intimatefriend of a Frenchwoman named Prote, the wife of a merchant who livedwith the chief huntsman. She was at the same time his mistress andthe confidante of his wife Maria Petrovna, who did not like herhusband, and was very much obliged to the Frenchwoman for deliveringher from the conjugal importunities.

This Prote was one of the handsomest women I have ever seen, andundoubtedly the handsomest in St. Petersburg at that time. She wasin the flower of her age. She had at once a wonderful taste forgallantry and for all the mysteries of the toilette. In dress shesurpassed everyone, and as she was witty and amusing she captivatedall hearts. Such was the woman whose friend and procuress La Vicenzahad become. She received the applications of those who were in lovewith Madame Prote, and passed them on, while, whether a lover's suitwas accepted or not, the procuress got something out of him.

I recognized Signora Roccolini as soon as I saw her, but as twentyyears had elapsed since our last meeting she did not wonder at myappearing not to know her, and made no efforts to refresh my memory.Her brother was called Montellato, and he it was who tried toassassinate me one night in St. Mark's Square, as I was leaving theRidotto. The plot that would have cost me my life, if I had not mademy escape from the window, was laid in the Roccolini's house.

She welcomed me as a fellow-countryman in a strange land, told me ofher struggles, and added that now she had an easy life of it, andassociated with the pleasantest ladies in St. Petersburg.

"I am astonished that you have not met the fair Madame Prote at thechief huntsman's, for she is the darling of his heart. Come and takecoffee with me to-morrow, and you shall see a wonder."

I kept the appointment, and I found the lady even more beautiful thanthe Venetian's praises of her had led me to expect. I was dazzled byher beauty, but not being a rich man I felt that I must set my witsto work if I wanted to enjoy her. I asked her name, though I knew itquite well, and she replied, "Prote."

"How so?" said she, with a charming smile. I explained the pun, andmade her laugh. I told her amusing stories, and let her know theeffect that her beauty had produced on me, and that I hoped timewould soften her heart to me. The acquaintance was made, andthenceforth I never went to Narischkin's without calling on her,either before or after dinner.

The Polish ambassador returned about that time, and I had to foregomy enjoyment of the fair Anglade, who accepted a very advantegeousproposal which was made her by Count Brawn. This charmingFrenchwoman died of the small-pox a few months later, and there canbe no doubt that her death was a blessing, as she would have falleninto misery and poverty after her beauty had once decayed.

I desired to succeed with Madame Prote, and with that idea I askedher to dinner at Locatelli's with Luini, Colonna, Zinowieff, SignoraVicenza, and a violinist, her lover. We had an excellent dinnerwashed down with plenty of wine, and the spirits of the company werewound up to the pitch I desired. After the repast each gentlemanwent apart with his lady, and I was on the point of success when anuntoward accident interrupted us. We were summoned to see the proofsof Luini's prowess; he had gone out shooting with his dogs and guns.

As I was walking away from Catherinhoff with Zinowieff I noticed ayoung country-woman whose beauty astonished me. I pointed her out tothe young officer, and we made for her; but she fled away with greatactivity to a little cottage, where we followed her. We went in andsaw the father, mother, and some children, and in a corner the timidform of the fair maiden.

Zinowieff (who, by the way, was for twenty years Russian ambassadorat Madrid) had a long conversation in Russian with the father. I didnot understand what was said, but I guessed it referred to the girlbecause, when her father called her, she advanced submissively, andstood modestly before us.

The conversation over, Zinowieff went out, and I followed him aftergiving the master of the house a rouble. Zinowieff told me what hadpassed, saying that he had asked the father if he would let him havethe daughter as a maid-servant, and the father had replied that itshould be so with all his heart, but that he must have a hundredroubles for her, as she was still a virgin. "So you see," addedZinowieff, "the matter is quite simple."

"How simple?"

"Why, yes; only a hundred roubles."

"And supposing me to be inclined to give that sum?"

"Then she would be your servant, and you could do anything you likedwith her, except kill her."

"And supposing she is not willing?"

"That never happens, but if it did you could have beaten her."

"Well, if she is satisfied and I enjoy her, can I still continue tokeep her?"

"You will be her master, I tell you, and can have her arrested if sheattempts to escape, unless she can return the hundred roubles yougave for her."

"What must I give her per month?"

"Nothing, except enough to eat and drink. You must also let her goto the baths on Saturday and to the church on Sunday."

"Can I make her come with me when I leave St. Petersburg?"

"No, unless you obtain permission and find a surety, for though thegirl would be your slave she would still be a slave to the empress."

"Very good; then will you arrange this matter for me? I will givethe hundred roubles, and I promise you I will not treat her as aslave. But I hope you will care for my interests, as I do not wishto be duped."

"I promise you you shall not be duped; I will see to everything.Would you like her now?"

"No, to-morrow."

"Very good; then to-morrow it shall be."

We returned to St. Petersburg in a phaeton, and the next day at nineo'clock I called on Zinowieff, who said he was delighted to do methis small service. On the way he said that if I liked he could getme a perfect seraglio of pretty girls in a few days.

"No," said I, "one is enough." And I gave him the hundred roubles.

We arrived at the cottage, where we found the father, mother, anddaughter. Zinowieff explained his business crudely enough, after thecustom of the country, and the father thanked St. Nicholas for thegood luck he had sent him. He spoke to his daughter, who looked atme and softly uttered the necessary yes.

Zinowieff then told me that I ought to ascertain that matters wereintact, as I was going to pay for a virgin. I was afraid ofoffending her, and would have nothing to do with it; but Zinowieffsaid the girl would be mortified if I did not examine her, and thatshe would be delighted if I place her in a position to prove beforeher father and mother that her conduct had always been virtuous. Itherefore made the examination as modestly as I could, and I foundher to be intact. To tell the truth, I should not have said anythingif things had been otherwise.

Zinowieff then gave the hundred roubles to the father, who handedthem to his daughter, and she only took them to return them to hermother. My servant and coachman were then called in to witness asarrangement of which they knew nothing.

I called her Zaira, and she got into the carriage and returned withme to St. Petersburg in her coarse clothes, without a chemise of anykind. After I had dropped Zinowieff at his lodging I went home, andfor four days I was engaged in collecting and arranging my slave'stoilet, not resting till I had dressed her modestly in the Frenchstyle. In less than three months she had learnt enough Italian totell me what she wanted and to understand me. She soon loved me, andafterwards she got jealous. But we shall hear more of her in thefollowing chapter.

The day on which I took Zaira I sent Lambert away, for I did not knowwhat to do with him. He got drunk every day, and when in his cups hewas unbearable. Nobody would have anything to say to him except as acommon soldier, and that is not an enviable position in Russia. Igot him a passport for Berlin, and gave him enough money for thejourney. I heard afterwards that he entered the Austrian service.

In May, Zaira had become so beautiful that when I went to Moscow Idared not leave her behind me, so I took her in place of a servant.It was delicious to me to hear her chattering in the Venetian dialectI had taught her. On a Saturday I would go with her to the bathwhere thirty of forty naked men and women were bathing togetherwithout the slightest constraint. This absence of shame must arise,I should imagine, from native innocence; but I wondered that nonelooked at Zaira, who seemed to me the original of the statue ofPsyche I had seen at the Villa Borghese at Rome. She was onlyfourteen, so her breast was not yet developed, and she bore about herfew traces of puberty. Her skin was as white as snow, and her ebonytresses covered the whole of her body, save in a few places where thedazzling whiteness of her skin shone through. Her eyebrows wereperfectly shaped, and her eyes, though they might have been larger,could not have been more brilliant or more expressive. If it had notbeen for her furious jealousy and her blind confidence in fortune-telling by cards, which she consulted every day, Zaira would havebeen a paragon among women, and I should never have left her.

A young and distinguished-looking Frenchman came to St. Petersburgwith a young Parisian named La Riviere, who was tolerably pretty butquite devoid of education, unless it were that education common toall the girls who sell their charms in Paris. This young man came tome with a letter from Prince Charles of Courland, who said that if Icould do anything for the young couple he would be grateful to me.They arrived just as I was breakfasting with Zaira.

"You must tell me," said I to the young Frenchman, "in what way I canbe of use to you."

"By admitting us to your company, and introducing us to yourfriends."

"Well, I am a stranger here, and I will come and see you, and you cancome and see me, and I shall be delighted; but I never dine at home.As to my friends, you must feel that, being a stranger, I could notintroduce you and the lady. Is she your wife? People will ask mewho you are, and what you are doing at St. Petersburg. What am I tosay? I wonder Prince Charles did not send you to someone else."

"I am a gentleman of Lorraine, and Madame la Riviere is my mistress,and my object in coming to St. Petersburg is to amuse myself."

"Then I don't know to whom I could introduce you under thecircumstances; but I should think you will be able to find plenty ofamusement without knowing anyone. The theatres, the streets, andeven the Court entertainments, are open to everyone. I suppose youhave plenty of money?"

"That's exactly what I haven't got, and I don't expect any either."

"Well, I have not much more, but you really astonish me. How couldyou have been so foolish as to come here without money?"

"Well, my mistress said we could do with what money we got from dayto day. She induced me to leave Paris without a farthing, and up tonow it seems to me that she is right. We have managed to get onsomehow."

"Then she has the purse?"

"My purse," said she, "is in the pockets of my friends."

"I understand, and I am sure you have no difficulty in finding thewherewithal to live. If I had such a purse, it should be opened foryou, but I am not a rich man."

Bomback, a citizen of Hamburg, whom I had known in England whence hehad fled on account of his debts, had come to St. Petersburg andentered the army. He was the son of a rich merchant and kept up ahouse, a carriage, and an army of servants; he was a lover of goodcheer, women, and gambling, and contracted debts everywhere. He wasan ugly man, but full of wit and energy. He happened to call on mejust as I was addressing the strange traveller whose purse was in thepocket of her friends. I introduced the couple to him, telling thewhole story, the item of the purse excepted. The adventure was justto Bomback's taste, and he began making advances to Madame laRiviere, who received them in a thoroughly professional spirit, and Iwas inwardly amused and felt that her axiom was a true one. Bombackasked them to dine with him the next day, and begged them to come andtake an unceremonious dinner the same day with him at Crasnacaback.I was included in the invitation, and Zaira, not understandingFrench, asked me what we were talking about, and on my telling herexpressed a desire to accompany me. I gave in to appease her, for Iknew the wish proceeded from jealousy, and that if I did not consentI should be tormented by tears, ill-humour, reproaches, melancholy,etc. This had occurred several times before, and so violent had shebeen that I had been compelled to conform to the custom of thecountry and beat her. Strange to say, I could not have taken abetter way to prove my love. Such is the character of the Russianwomen. After the blows had been given, by slow degrees she becameaffectionate again, and a love encounter sealed the reconciliation.

Bomback left us to make his preparations in high spirits, and whileZaira was dressing, Madame Riviere talked in such a manner as to makeme almost think that I was absolutely deficient in knowledge of theworld. The astonishing thing was that her lover did not seem in theleast ashamed of the part he had to play. He might say that he wasin love with the Messalina, but the ex. cuse would not have beenadmissible.

The party was a merry one. Bomback talked to the adventuress, Zairasat on my knee, and Crevecoeur ate and drank, laughed in season andout of season, and walked up and down. The crafty Madame Riviereincited Bomback to risk twenty-five roubles at quinze; he lost andpaid pleasantly, and only got a kiss for his money. Zaira, who wasdelighted to be able to watch over me and my fidelity, jestedpleasantly on the Frenchwoman and the complaisance of her lover.This was altogether beyond her comprehension, and she could notunderstand how he could bear such deeds as were done before his face.

The next day I went to Bomback by myself, as I was sure of meetingyoung Russian officers, who would have annoyed me by making love toZaira in their own language. I found the two travellers and thebrothers Lunin, then lieutenants but now generals. The younger ofthem was as fair and pretty as any girl. He had been the beloved ofthe minister Teploff, and, like a lad of wit, he not only was notashamed but openly boasted that it was his custom to secure the good-will of all men by his caresses.

He had imagined the rich citizen of Hamburg to be of the same tastesas Teploff, and he had not been mistaken; and so he degraded me byforming the same supposition. With this idea he seated himself nextto me at table, and behaved himself in such a manner during dinnerthat I began to believe him to be a girl in man's clothes.

After dinner, as I was sitting at the fire, between him and theFrenchman, I imparted my suspicions to him; but jealous of thesuperiority of his sex, he displayed proof of it on the spot, andforthwith got hold of me and put himself in a position to make myhappiness and his own as he called it. I confess, to my shame, thathe might perhaps have succeeded, if Madame la Riviere, indignant atthis encroachment of her peculiar province, had not made him desist.

Lunin the elder, Crevecceur, and Bomback, who had been for a walk,returned at nightfall with two or three friends, and easily consoledthe Frenchman for the poor entertainment the younger Lunin and myselfhad given him.

Bomback held a bank at faro, which only came to an end at eleven,when the money was all gone. We then supped, and the real orgybegan, in which la Riviere bore the brunt in a manner that was simplyastonishing. I and my friend Lunin were merely spectators, and poorCrevecoeur had gone to bed. We did not separate till day-break.

I got home, and, fortunately for myself, escaped the bottle whichZaira flung at my head, and which would infallibly have killed me ifit had hit me. She threw herself on to the ground, and began tostrike it with her forehead. I thought she had gone mad, andwondered whether I had better call for assistance; but she becamequiet enough to call me assassin and traitor, with all the otherabusive epithets that she could remember. To convict me of my crimeshe shewed me twenty-five cards, placed in order, and on them shedisplayed the various enormities of which I had been guilty.

I let her go on till her rage was somewhat exhausted, and then,having thrown her divining apparatus into the fire, I looked at herin pity and anger, and said that we must part the next day, as shehad narrowly escaped killing me. I confessed that I had been withBomback, and that there had been a girl in the house; but I deniedall the other sins of which she accused me. I then went to sleepwithout taking the slightest notice of her, in spite of all she saidand did to prove her repentance.

I woke after a few hours to find her sleeping soundly, and I began toconsider how I could best rid myself of the girl, who would probablykill me if we continued living together. Whilst I was absorbed inthese thoughts she awoke, and falling at my feet wept and professedher utter repentance, and promised never to touch another card aslong as I kept her.

At last I could resist her entreaties no longer, so I took her in myarms and forgave her; and we did not part till she had receivedundeniable proofs of the return of my affection. I intended to startfor Moscow in three days, and she was delighted when she heard shewas to go.

Three circumstances had won me this young girl's furious affection.In the first place I often took her to see her family, with whom Ialways left a rouble; in the second I made her eat with me; and inthe third I had beaten her three or four times when she had tried toprevent me going out.

In Russia beating is a matter of necessity, for words have no forcewhatever. A servant, mistress, or courtezan understands nothing butthe lash. Words are altogether thrown away, but a few good strokesare entirely efficacious. The servant, whose soul is still moreenslaved than his body, reasons somewhat as follows, after he has hada beating:

"My master has not sent me away, but beaten me; therefore he lovesme, and I ought to be attached to him."

It is the same with the Russian soldier, and in fact with everybody.Honour stands for nothing, but with the knout and brandy one can getanything from them except heroical enthusiasm.

Papanelopulo laughed at me when I said that as I liked my Cossack Ishould endeavour to correct him with words only when he took too muchbrandy.

"If you do not beat him," he said, "he will end by beating you;" andhe spoke the truth.

One day, when he was so drunk as to be unable to attend on me, Ibegan to scold him, and threatened him with the stick if he did notmend his ways. As soon as he saw my cane lifted, he ran at me andgot hold of it; and if I had not knocked him down immediately, hewould doubtless have beaten me. I dismissed him on the spot. Thereis not a better servant in the world than a Russian. He workswithout ceasing, sleeps in front of the door of his master's bedroomto be always ready to fulfil his orders, never answering hisreproaches, incapable of theft. But after drinking a little too muchbrandy he becomes a perfect monster; and drunkenness is the vice ofthe whole nation.

A coachman knows no other way of resisting the bitter cold to whichhe is exposed, than by drinking rye brandy. It sometimes happensthat he drinks till he falls asleep, and then there is no awaking forhim in this world. Unless one is very careful, it is easy to lose anear, the nose, a cheek, or a lip by frost bites. One day as I waswalking out on a bitterly cold day, a Russian noticed that one of myears was frozen. He ran up to me and rubbed the affected part with ahandful of snow till the circulation was restored. I asked him howhe had noticed my state, and he said he had remarked the lividwhiteness of my ear, and this, he said, was always a sign that thefrost had taken it. What surprised me most of all is that sometimesthe part grows again after it has dropped off. Prince Charles ofCourland assured me that he had cost his nose in Siberia, and that ithad grown again the next summer. I have been assured of the truth ofthis by several Russians.

About this time the empress made the architect Rinaldi, who had beenfifty years in St. Petersburg, build her an enormous woodenamphitheatre so large as to cover the whole of the space in front ofthe palace. It would contain a hundred thousand spectators, and init Catherine intended to give a vast tournament to all the knights ofher empire. There were to be four parties of a hundred knights each,and all the cavaliers were to be clad in the national costume of thenations they represented. All the Russians were informed of thisgreat festival, which was to be given at the expense of thesovereign, and the princes, counts, and barons were already arrivingwith their chargers from the most remote parts of the empire. PrinceCharles of Courland wrote informing me of his intention to bepresent.

It had been ordained, that the tournament should take place on thefirst fine day, and this precaution was a very wise one; for,excepting in the season of the hard frosts, a day without rain, orsnow, or wind, is a marvel. In Italy, Spain, and France, one canreckon on fine weather, and bad weather is the exception, but it isquite the contrary in Russia. Ever since I have known this home offrost and the cold north wind, I laugh when I hear travellingRussians talking of the fine climate of their native country.However, it is a pardonable weakness, most of us prefer "mine" to"thine;" nobles affect to consider themselves of purer blood than thepeasants from whom they sprang, and the Romans and other ancientnations pretended that they were the children of the gods, to draw aveil over their actual ancestors who were doubtless robbers. Thetruth is, that during the whole year 1756 there was not one fine dayin Russia, or in Ingria at all events, and the mere proofs of thisstatement may be found in the fact that the tournament was not heldin that year. It was postponed till the next, and the princes,counts, barons, and knights spent the winter in the capital, unlesstheir purses forbade them to indulge in the luxuries of Court life.The dear Prince of Courland was in this case, to my greatdisappointment.

Having made all arrangements for my journey to Moscow, I got into mysleeping carriage with Zaira, having a servant behind who could speakboth Russian and German. For twenty-four roubles the chevochic(hirer out of horses) engaged to carry me to Moscow in six days andseven nights with six horses. This struck me as being extremelycheap. The distance is seventy-two Russian stages, almost equivalentto five hundred Italian miles, or a hundred and sixty French leagues.

We set out just as a cannon shot from the citadel announced the closeof day. It was towards the end of May, in which month there isliterally no night at St. Petersburg. Without the report of thecannon no one would be able to tell when the day ended and the nightbegan. One can read a letter at midnight, and the moonlight makes noappreciable difference. This continual day lasts for eight weeks,and during that time no one lights a candle. At Moscow it isdifferent; a candle is always necessary at midnight if one wished toread.

We reached Novgorod in forty-eight hours, and here the chevochicallowed us a rest of five hours. I saw a circumstance there whichsurprised me very much, though one has no business to be surprised atanything if one travels much, and especially in a land of halfsavages. I asked the chevochic to drink, but he appeared to be ingreat melancholy. I enquired what was the matter, and he told Zairathat one of his horses had refused to eat, and that it was clear thatif he could not eat he could not work. We followed him into thestable, and found the horse looking oppressed by care, its headlowered and motionless; it had evidently got no appetite. His masterbegan a pathetic oration, looking tenderly at the animal, as if toarouse it to a sense of duty, and then taking its head, and kissingit lovingly, he put it into the manger, but to no purpose. Then theman began to weep bitterly, but in such a way that I had the greatestdifficulty to prevent myself laughing, for I could see that he weptin the hope that his tears might soften the brute's heart. When hehad wept some time he again put the horse's head into the manger, butagain to no purpose. At this he got furious and swore to be avenged.He led the horse out of the stable, tied it to a post, and beat itwith a thick stick for a quarter of an hour so violently that myheart bled for the poor animal. At last the chevochic was tired out,and taking the horse back to the stable he fastened up his head oncemore, and to my astonishment it began to devour its provender withthe greatest appetite. At this the master jumped for joy, laughed,sang, and committed a thousand extravagancies, as if to shew thehorse how happy it had made him. I was beside myself withastonishment, and concluded that such treatment would have succeedednowhere but in Russia, where the stick seems to be the panacea oruniversal medicine.

They tell me, however, that the stick is gradually going out offashion. Peter the Great used to beat his generals black and blue,and in his days a lieutenant had to receive with all submission thecuffs of his captain, who bent before the blows of his major, who didthe same to his colonel, who received chastisement from his general.So I was informed by old General Woyakoff, who was a pupil of Peterthe Great, and had often been beaten by the great emperor, thefounder of St. Petersburg.

It seems to me that I have scarcely said anything about this greatand famous capital, which in my opinion is built on somewhatprecarious foundations. No one but Peter could have thus given thelie to Nature by building his immense palaces of marble and graniteon mud and shifting sand. They tell me that the town is now in itsmanhood, to the honour of the great Catherine; but in the year 1765it was still in its minority, and seemed to me only to have beenbuilt with the childish aim of seeing it fall into ruins. Streetswere built with the certainty of having to repair them in six months'time. The whole place proclaimed itself to be the whim of a despot.If it is to be durable constant care will be required, for naturenever gives up its rights and reasserts them when the constraint ofman is withdrawn. My theory is that sooner or later the soil mustgive way and drag the vast city with it.

We reached Moscow in the time the chevochic had promised. As thesame horses were used for the whole journey, it would have beenimpossible to travel mote quickly. A Russian told me that theEmpress Elizabeth had done the journey in fifty-two hours.

"You mean that she issued a ukase to the effect that she had doneit," said a Russian of the old school; "and if she had liked shecould have travelled more quickly still; it was only a question ofthe wording of the ukase."

Even when I was in Russia it was not allowable to doubt theinfallibility of a ukase, and to do so was, equivalent to hightreason. One day I was crossing a canal at St. Petersburg by a smallwooden bridge; Melissino Papanelopulo, and some other Russians werewith me. I began to abuse the wooden bridge, which I characterizedas both mean and dangerous. One of my companions said that on such aday it would be replaced by a fine stone bridge, as the empress hadto pass there on some state occasion. The day named way three weeksoff, and I said plainly that it was impossible. One of the Russianslooked askance at me, and said there was no doubt about it, as aukase had been published ordering that the bridge should be built. Iwas going to answer him, but Papanelopulo gave my hand a squeeze, andwhispered "Taci!" (hush).

The bridge was not built, but I was not justified, for the empresspublished another ukase in which she declared it to be her graciouspleasure that the bridge should not be built till the following year.If anyone would see what a pure despotism is like, let him go toRussia.

The Russian sovereigns use the language of despotism on alloccasions. One day I saw the empress, dressed in man's clothes,going out for a ride. Her master of the horse, Prince Repnin, heldthe bridle of the horse, which suddenly gave him a kick which brokehis anklebone. The empress instantly ordained that the horse shouldbe taken away, and that no one should mount it again under pain ofdeath. All official positions in Russia have military rank assignedto them, and this sufficiently indicates the nature of theGovernment. The coachman-in-chief of her imperial highness holds therank of colonel, as also does her chief cook. The castrato Luini wasa lieutenant-colonel, and the painter Toretti only a captain, becausehe had only eight hundred roubles a year, while the coachman hadthree thousand. The sentinels at the doors of the palace have theirmuskets crossed, and ask those who wish to pass through what is theirrank. When I was asked this question, I stopped short; but thequick-witted officer asked me how much I had a year, and on myreplying, at a hazard, three thousand roubles, he gave me the rank ofgeneral, and I was allowed to pass. I saw the czarina for a moment;she stopped at the door and took off her gloves to give her hands tobe kissed by the officer and the two sentinels. By such means asthis she had won the affection of the corps, commanded by GregoriusGregorovitch Orloff, on which her safety depended in case ofrevolution.

I made the following notes when I saw the empress hearing mass in herchapel. The protopapa, or bishop, received her at the door to giveher the holy water, and she kissed his episcopal ring, while theprelate, whose beard was a couple of feet in length, lowered his headto kiss the hands of his temporal sovereign and spiritual head, forin Russia the he or she on the throne is the spiritual as well astemporal head of the Church.

She did not evidence the least devotion during mass; hypocrisy didnot seem to be one of her vices. Now she smiled at one of her suite,now at another, and occasionally she addressed the favourite, notbecause she had anything to say to him, but to make him an object ofenvy to the others.

One evening, as she was leaving the theatre where Metastasio'sOlympiade had been performed, I heard her say,--

"The music of that opera has given the greatest pleasure to everyone,so of course I am delighted with it; but it wearies me, nevertheless.Music is a fine thing, but I cannot understand how anyone who isseriously occupied can love it passionately. I will have Buranellohere, and I wonder whether he will interest me in music, but I amafraid nature did not constitute me to feel all its charms."

She always argued in that way. In due time I will set down her wordsto me when I returned from Moscow. When I arrived at that city I gotdown at a good inn, where they gave me two rooms and a coach-housefor my carriage. After dinner I hired a small carriage and a guidewho could speak French. My carriage was drawn by four horses, forMoscow is a vast city composed of four distinct towns, and many ofthe streets are rough and ill-paved. I had five or six letters ofintroduction, and I determined to take them all. I took Zaira withme, as she was as curious to see everything as a girl of fourteennaturally is. I do not remember what feast the Greek Church waskeeping on that day, but I shall never forget the terrific bell-ringing with which my ears were assailed, for there are churchesevery where. The country people were engaged in sowing their grain,to reap it in September. They laughed at our Southern custom ofsowing eight months earlier, as unnecessary and even prejudicial tothe crops, but I do not know where the right lies. Perhaps we mayboth be right, for there is no master to compare with experience.I took all the introductions I had received from Narischkin, PrinceRepnin, the worthy Pananelopulo, and Melissino's brother. The nextmorning the whole of the persons at whose houses I had left letterscalled on me. They all asked Zaira and myself to dinner, and Iaccepted the invitation of the first comer, M. Dinidoff, and promisedto dine with the rest on the following days, Zaira, who had beentutored by me to some extent, was delighted to shew me that she wasworthy of the position she occupied. She was exquisitely dressed,and won golden opinions everywhere, for our hosts did not care toenquire whether she were my daughter, my mistress, or my servant, forin this matter, as in many others, the Russians are excessivelyindulgent. Those who have not seen Moscow have not seen Russia, forthe people of St, Petersburg are not really Russians at all. Theircourt manners are very different from their manners 'au naturel', andit may be said with truth that the true Russian is as a stranger inSt. Petersburg. The citizens of, Moscow, and especially the richones, speak with pity of those, who for one reason or another, hadexpatriated themselves; and with them to expatriate one's self is toleave Moscow, which they consider as their native land. They look onSt. Petersburg with an envious eve, and call it the ruin of Russia.I do not know whether this is a just view to take of the case, Imerely repeat what I have heard.

In the course of a week I saw all the sights of Moscow--themanufacturers, the churches, the remains of the old days, themuseums, the libraries, (of no interest to my mind), not forgettingthe famous bell. I noticed that their bells are not allowed to swinglike ours, but are motionless, being rung by a rope attached to theclapper.

I thought the Moscow women more handsome than those of St.Petersburg, and I attribute this to the great superiority of the air.They are gentle and accessible by nature; and to obtain the favour ofa kiss on the lips, one need only make a show of kissing their hands.

There was good fare in plenty, but no delicacy in its composition orarrangement. Their table is always open to friends andacquaintances, and a friend may bring to five or six persons todinner, and even at the end of the meals you will never hear aRussian say, "We have had dinner; you have come too late." Theirsouls are not black enough for them to pronounce such words as this.Notice is given to the cook, and the dinner begins over again. Theyhave a delicious drink, the name of which I do not remember; but itis much superior to the sherbet of Constantinople. The numerousservants are not given water, but a light, nourishing, and agreeablefluid, which may be purchased very cheaply. They all hold St.Nicholas in the greatest reverence, only praying to God through themediation of this saint, whose picture is always suspended in theprincipal room of the house. A person coming in makes first a bow tothe image and then a bow to the master, and if perchance the image isabsent, the Russian, after gazing all round, stands confused andmotionless, not knowing what to do. As a general rule the Muscovitesare the most superstitious Christians in the world. Their liturgy isin Greek, of which the people understand nothing, and the clergy,themselves extremely ignorant, gladly leave them completely in thedark on all matters connected with religion. I could never make themunderstand that the only reason for the Roman Christians making thesign of the Cross from left to right, while the Greeks make it fromright to left, is that we say 'spiritus sancti', while they say'agion pneuma'.

"If you said pneuma agion," I used to say, "then you would crossyourself like us, and if we said sancti spiritus we should crossourselves like you."

"The adjective," replied my interlocutor, "should always precede thesubstantive, for we should never utter the name of God without firstgiving Him some honourable epithet."

Such are nearly all the differences which divide the two churches,without reckoning the numerous idle tales which they have as well asourselves, and which are by no means the least cherished articles oftheir faith.

We returned to St. Petersburg by the way we had come, but Zaira wouldhave liked me never to leave Moscow. She had become so much in lovewith me by force of constant association that I could not thinkwithout a pang of the moment of separation. The day after ourarrival in the capital I took her to her home, where she shewed herfather all the little presents I had given her, and told him of thehonour she had received as my daughter, which made the good man laughheartily.

The first piece of news I heard was that a ukase had been issued,ordering the erection of a temple dedicated to God in the Moscoiopposite to the house where I resided. The empress had entrustedRinaldi, the architect, with the erection. He asked her what emblemhe should put above the portal, and she replied,--

"No emblem at all, only the name of God in large letters."

"I will put a triangle."

"No triangle at all; but only the name of God in whatever languageyou like, and nothing more."

The second piece of news was that Bomback had fled and had beencaptured at Mitau, where he believed himself in safety. M. deSimolia had arrested him. It was a grave case, for he had deserted;however, he was given his life, and sent into barracks atKamstchatka. Crevecoeur and his mistress had departed, carrying somemoney with them, and a Florentine adventurer named Billotti had fledwith eighteen thousand roubles belonging to Papanelopulo, but acertain Bori, the worthy Greek's factotum, had caught him at Mitauand brought him back to St. Petersburg, where he was now in prison.Prince Charles of Courland arrived about this time, and I hastened tocall upon him as soon as he advised me of his coming. He was lodgingin a house belonging to Count Dimidoff, who owned large iron mines,and had made the whole house of iron, from attic to basement. Theprince had brought his mistress with him, but she was still in anill-humour, and he was beginning to get heartily sick of her. Theman was to be pitied, for he could not get rid of her without findingher a husband, and this husband became more difficult to find everyday. When the prince saw how happy I was with my Zaira, he could nothelp thinking how easily happiness may be won; but the fatal desirefor luxury and empty show spoils all, and renders the very sweets oflife as bitter as gall.

I was indeed considered happy, and I liked to appear so, but in myheart I was wretched. Ever since my imprisonment under The Leads, Ihad been subject to haemorrhoids, which came on three or four times ayear. At St. Petersburg I had a serious attack, and the daily painand anxiety embittered my existence. A vegetarian doctor calledSenapios, for whom I had sent, gave me the sad news that I had ablind or incomplete fistula in the rectum, and according to himnothing but the cruel pistoury would give me any relief, and indeedhe said I had no time to lose. I had to agree, in spite of mydislike to the operation; but fortunately the clever surgeon whom thedoctor summoned pronounced that if I would have patience natureitself would give me relief. I had much to endure, especially fromthe severe dieting to which I was subjected, but which doubtless didme good.

Colonel Melissino asked me to be present at a review which was totake place at three versts from St. Petersburg, and was to besucceeded by a dinner to twenty-four guests, given by General Orloff.I went with the prince, and saw a cannon fired twenty times in aminute, testing the performance with my watch.

My neighbour at dinner was the French ambassador. Wishing to drinkdeeply, after the Russian fashion, and thinking the Hungarian wine asinnocent as champagne, he drank so bravely that at the end of dinnerhe had lost the use of his legs. Count Orloff made him drink stillmore, and then he fell asleep and was laid on a bed.

The gaiety of the meal gave me some idea of Russian wit. I did notunderstand the language, so M. Zinowieff translated the curioussallies to me while the applause they had raised was stillresounding.

Melissino rose to his feet, holding a large goblet full of Hungarianwine in his hand. There was a general silence to listen to him. Hedrank the health of General Orloff in these words:

"May you die when you become rich."

The applause was general, for the allusion was to the unboundedgenerosity of Orloff. The general's reply struck me as better still,but it was equally rugged in character. He, too, took a full cup,and turning to Melissino, said,

"May you never die till I slay you!"

The applause was furious, for he was their host and their general.

The Russian wit is of the energetic kind, devoid of grace; all theycare about is directness and vigour.

Voltaire had just sent the empress his "Philosophy of History," whichhe had written for her and dedicated to her. A month after, anedition of three thousand copies came by sea, and was sold out in aweek, for all the Russians who knew a little French were eager topossess a copy of the work. The leaders of the Voltaireans were twonoblemen, named, respectively, Stroganoff and Schuvaloff. I haveseen verses written by the former of these as good as Voltaire's ownverses, and twenty years later I saw an ode by the latter of whichVoltaire would not have been ashamed, but the subject was ill chosen;for it treated of the death of the great philosopher who had sostudiously avoided using his pen on melancholy themes. In those daysall Russians with any pretensions to literature read nothing butVoltaire, and when they had read all his writings they thoughtthemselves as wise as their master. To me they seemed pigmiesmimicking a giant. I told them that they ought to read all the booksfrom which Voltaire had drawn his immense learning, and then,perhaps, they might become as wise as he. I remember the saying of awise man at Rome: "Beware of the man of one book." I wonder whetherthe Russians are more profound now; but that is a question I cannotanswer. At Dresden I knew Prince Biloselski, who was on his way backto Russia after having been ambassador at Turin. He was the authorof an admirable world on metaphysics, and the analysis of the souland reason.

Count Panin was the tutor of Paul Petrovitch, heir-presumptive to thethrone. The young prince had a severe master, and dared not evenapplaud an air at the opera unless he first received permission to doso from his mentor.

When a courier brought the news of the sudden death of Francis I.,Emperor of Germany and of the Holy Roman Empire, the czarina being atCzarsko-Zelo, the count minister-tutor was in the palace with hispupil, then eleven years old. The courier came at noon, and gave thedispatch into the hands of the minister, who was standing in themidst of a crowd of courtiers of whom I was one. The prince imperialwas at his right hand. The minister read the dispatch in a lowvoice, and then said:

"This is news indeed. The Emperor of the Romans has died suddenly."

He then turned to Paul, and said to him,--

"Full court mourning, which your highness will observe for threemonths longer than the empress."

"Why so?" said Paul.

"Because, as Duke of Holstein, your highness has a right to attendthe diet of the empire, a privilege," he added, turning to us, "whichPeter the Great desired in vain."

I noted the attention with which the Grand Duke Paul listened to hismentor, and the care with which he concealed his joy at the news. Iwas immensely pleased with this way of giving instruction. I said asmuch to Prince Lobkowitz, who was standing by me, and he refined onmy praises. This prince was popular with everyone. He was evenpreferred to his predecessor, Prince Esterhazy; and this was saying agreat deal, for Esterhazy was adored in Russia. The gay and affablemanner of Prince Lobkowitz made him the life and soul of all theparties at which he was present. He was a constant courtier of theCountess Braun, the reigning beauty, and everyone believed his lovehad been crowned with success, though no one could assert as muchpositively.

There was a great review held at a distance of twelve or fourteenversts from St. Petersburg, at which the empress and all her train ofcourtiers were present. The houses of the two or three adjoiningvillages were so few and small that it would be impossible for allthe company to find a lodging. Nevertheless I wished to be presentchiefly to please Zaira, who wanted to be seen with me on such anoccasion. The review was to last three days; there were to befireworks, and a mine was to be exploded besides the evolutions ofthe troops. I went in my travelling carriage, which would serve mefor a lodging if I could get nothing better.

We arrived at the appointed place at eight o'clock in the morning;the evolutions lasted till noon. When they were over we went towardsa tavern and had our meal served to us in the carriage, as all therooms in the inn were full.

After dinner my coachman tried in vain to find me a lodging, so Idisposed myself to sleep all night in the carriage; and so I did forthe whole time of the review, and fared better than those who hadspent so much money to be ill lodged. Melissino told me that theempress thought my idea a very sensible one. As I was the onlyperson who had a sleeping carriage, which was quite a portable housein itself, I had numerous visitors, and Zaira was radiant to be ableto do the honours.

I had a good deal of conversation during the review with Count Tott,brother of the nobleman who was employed at Constantinople, and knownas Baron Tott. We had known each other at Paris, and afterwards atthe Hague, where I had the pleasure of being of service to him. Hehad come to St. Petersburg with Madame de Soltikoff, whom he had metat Paris, and whose lover he was. He lived with her, went to Court,and was well received by everyone.

Two or three years after, the empress ordered him to leave St.Petersburg on account of the troubles in Poland. It was said that hekept up a correspondence with his brother, who was endeavouring tointercept the fleet under the command of Alexis Orloff. I neverheard what became of him after he left Russia, where he obliged mewith the loan of five hundred roubles, which I have not yet been ableto return to him.

M. Maruzzi, by calling a Venetian merchant, and by birth a Greek,having left trade to live like a gentleman, came to St. Petersburgwhen I was there, and was presented at Court. He was a fine-lookingman, and was admitted to all the great houses. The empress treatedhim with distinction because she had thoughts of making him her agentat Venice. He paid his court to the Countess Braun, but he hadrivals there who were not afraid of him. He was rich enough, but didnot know how to spend his money; and avarice is a sin which meetswith no pity from the Russian ladies.

I went to Czarsko-Zelo, Peterhoff, and Cronstadt, for if you want tosay you have been in a country you should see as much as possible ofit. I wrote notes and memorandums on several questions with the hopeof their procuring me a place in the civil service, and all myproductions were laid before the empress but with no effect. InRussia they do not think much of foreigners unless they havespecially summoned them; those who come of their own account rarelymake much, and I suspect the Russians are right.

CHAPTER XXI

I See the Empress--My Conversations with Her--The Valville--I LeaveZaiya I Leave St. Petersburg and Arrive at Warsaw--The Princes AdamCzartoryski and Sulkowski--The King of Poland--Theatrical Intrigues--Byanicki

I thought of leaving Russia at the beginning of the autumn, but I wastold by M M. Panin and Alsuwieff that I ought not to go withouthaving spoken to the empress.

"I should be sorry to do so," I replied, "but as I can't find anyoneto present me to her, I must be resigned."

At last Panin told me to walk in a garden frequented by her majestyat an early hour, and he said that meeting me, as it were by chance,she would probably speak to me. I told him I should like him to bewith her, and he accordingly named a day.

I repaired to the garden, and as I walked about I marvelled at thestatuary it contained, all the statues being made of the worst stone,and executed in the worst possible taste. The names cut beneath themgave the whole the air of a practical joke. A weeping statue wasDemocritus; another, with grinning mouth, was labelled Heraclitus; anold man with a long beard was Sappho; and an old woman, Avicenna; andso on.

As I was smiling at this extraordinary collection, I saw the czarina,preceded by Count Gregorius Orloff, and followed by two ladies,approaching. Count Panin was on her left hand. I stood by the hedgeto let her pass, but as soon as she came up to me she asked,smilingly, if I had been interested in the statues. I replied,following her steps, that I presumed they had been placed there toimpose on fools, or to excite the laughter of those acquainted withhistory.

"From what I can make out," she replied, "the secret of the matter isthat my worthy aunt was imposed on, and indeed she did not troubleherself much about such trifles. But I hope you have seen otherthings in Russia less ridiculous than these statues?"

I entertained the sovereign for more than an hour with my remarks onthe things of note I had seen in St. Petersburg. The conversationhappened to turn on the King of Prussia, and I sang his praises; butI censured his terrible habit of always interrupting the person whomhe was addressing. Catherine smiled and asked me to tell her aboutthe conversation I had had with this monarch, and I did so to thebest of my ability. She was then kind enough to say that she hadnever seen me at the Courtag, which was a vocal and instrumentalconcert given at the palace, and open to all. I told her that I hadonly attended once, as I was so unfortunate as not to have a tastefor music. At this she turned to Panin, and said smilingly that sheknew someone else who had the same misfortune. If the readerremembers what I heard her say about music as she was leaving theopera, he will pronounce my speech to have been a very courtier-likeone, and I confess it was; but who can resist making such speeches toa monarch, and above all, a monarch in petticoats?

The czarina turned from me to speak to M. Bezkoi, who had just comeup, and as M. Panin left the garden I did so too, delighted with thehonour I had had.

The empress, who was a woman of moderate height and yet of a majesticappearance, thoroughly understood the art of making herself loved.She was not beautiful, but yet she was sure of pleasing by hergeniality and her wit, and also by that exquisite tact which made oneforget the awfulness of the sovereign in the gentleness of the woman.A few days after, Count Partin told me that the empress had twiceasked after me, and that this was a sure sign I had pleased her. Headvised me to look out for another opportunity of meeting her, andsaid that for the future she would always tell me to approachwhenever she saw me, and that if I wanted some employment she mightpossible do something for me.

Though I did not know what employ I could ask for in thatdisagreeable country, I was glad to hear that I could have easyaccess to the Court. With that idea I walked in the garden everyday, and here follows my second conversation with the empressShe saw me at a distance and sent an officer to fetch me into herpresence. As everybody was talking of the tournament, which had tobe postponed on account of the bad weather, she asked me if this kindof entertainment could be given at Venice. I told her some amusingstories on the subject of shows and spectacles, and in this relationI remarked that the Venetian climate was more pleasant than theRussian, for at Venice fine days were the rule, while at St.Petersburg they were the exception, though the year is younger therethan anywhere else.

"Yes," she said, "in your country it is eleven days older."

"Would it not be worthy of your majesty to put Russia on an equalitywith the rest of the world in this respect, by adopting the Gregoriancalendar? All the Protestants have done so, and England, who adoptedit fourteen years ago, has already gained several millions. AllEurope is astonished that the old style should be suffered to existin a country where the sovereign is the head of the Church, and whosecapital contains an academy of science. It is thought that Peter theGreat, who made the year begin in January, would have also abolishedthe old style if he had not been afraid of offending England, whichthen kept trade and commerce alive throughout your vast empire.""You know," she replied, with a sly smile, "that Peter the Great wasnot exactly a learned man."

"He was more than a man of learning, the immortal Peter was a geniusof the first order. Instinct supplied the place of science with him;his judgment was always in the right. His vast genius, his firmresolve, prevented him from making mistakes, and helped him todestroy all those abuses which threatened to oppose his greatdesigns."

Her majesty seemed to have heard me with great interest, and wasabout to reply when she noticed two ladies whom she summoned to herpresence. To me she said,--

"I shall be delighted to reply to you at another time," and thenturned towards the ladies.

The time came in eight or ten days, when I was beginning to think shehad had enough of me, for she had seen me without summoning me tospeak to her.

She began by saying what I desired should be done was done already."All the letters sent to foreign countries and all the importantState records are marked with both dates."

"But I must point out to your majesty that by the end of the centurythe difference will be of twelve days, not eleven."

"Not at all; we have seen to that. The last year of this centurywill not be counted as a leap year. It is fortunate that thedifference is one of eleven days, for as that is the number which isadded every year to the epact our epacts are almost the same. As tothe celebration of Easter, that is a different question. Yourequinox is on March the 21st, ours on the 10th, and the astronomerssay we are both wrong; sometimes it is we who are wrong and sometimesyou, as the equinox varies. You know you are not even in agreementwith the Jews, whose calculation is said to be perfectly accurate;and, in fine, this difference in the time of celebrating Easter doesnot disturb in any way public order or the progress of theGovernment."

"I suppose you are going to say that we do not celebrate Christmas inthe winter solstice as should properly be done. We know it, but itseems to me a matter of no account. I would rather bear with thissmall mistake than grievously afflict vast numbers of my subjects bydepriving them of their birthdays. If I did so, there would be noopen complaints uttered, as that is not the fashion in Russia; butthey would say in secret that I was an Atheist, and that I disputedthe infallibility of the Council of Nice. You may think suchcomplaints matter for laughter, but I do not, for I have much moreagreeable motives for amusement."

The czarina was delighted to mark my surprise. I did not doubt for amoment that she had made a special study of the whole subject.M. Alsuwieff told me, a few days after, that she had very possiblyread a little pamphlet on the subject, the statements of whichexactly coincided with her own. He took care to add, however, thatit was very possible her highness was profoundly learned on thematter, but this was merely a courtier's phrase.

What she said was spoken modestly and energetically, and her goodhumour and pleasant smile remained unmoved throughout. She exerciseda constant self-control over herself, and herein appeared thegreatness of her character, for nothing is more difficult. Herdemeanour, so different from that of the Prussian king, shewed her tobe the greater sovereign of the two; her frank geniality always gaveher the advantage, while the short, curt manners of the king oftenexposed him to being made a dupe. In an examination of the life ofFrederick the Great, one cannot help paying a deserved tribute to hiscourage, but at the same time one feels that if it had not been forrepeated turns of good fortune he must have succumbed, whereasCatherine was little indebted to the favours of the blind deity. Shesucceeded in enterprises which, before her time, would have beenpronounced impossibilities, and it seemed her aim to make men lookupon her achievements as of small account.

I read in one of our modern journals, those monuments of editorialself-conceit, that Catherine the Great died happily as she had lived.Everybody knows that she died suddenly on her close stool. Bycalling such a death happy, the journalist hints that it is the deathhe himself would wish for. Everyone to his taste, and we can onlyhope that the editor may obtain his wish; but who told this sillyfellow that Catherine desired such a death? If he regards such awish as natural to a person of her profound genius I would ask whotold him that men of genius consider a sudden death to be a happyone? Is it because that is his opinion, and are we to conclude thathe is therefore person of genius? To come to the truth we shouldhave to interrogate the late empress, and ask her some such questionas:

"Are you well pleased to have died suddenly?"

She would probably reply:

"What a foolish question! Such might be the wish of one driven todespair, or of someone suffering from a long and grievous malady.Such was not my position, for I enjoyed the blessings of happinessand good health; no worse fate could have happened to me. My suddendeath prevented me from concluding several designs which I might havebrought to a successful issue if God had granted me the warning of a,slight illness. But it was not so; I had to set out on the longjourney at a moment's notice, without the time to make anypreparations. Is my death any the happier from my not foreseeing it?Do you think me such a coward as to dread the approach of what iscommon to all? I tell you that I should have accounted myself happyif I had had a respite of but a day. Then I should not complain ofthe Divine justice."

"Does your highness accuse God of injustice, then?"

"What boots it, since I am a lost soul? Do you expect the damned toacknowledge the justice of the decree which has consigned them toeternal woe?"

"No doubt it is a difficult matter, but I should have thought that asense of the justice of your doom would have mitigated the pains ofit."

"Perhaps so, but a damned soul must be without consolation for ever."

"In spite of that there are some philosophers who call you happy inyour death by virtue of its suddenness."

"Not philosophers, but fools, for in its suddenness was the pain andwoe."

"Well said; but may I ask your highness if you admit the possibilityof a happy eternity after an unhappy death, or of an unhappy doomafter a happy death?"

"Such suppositions are inconceivable. The happiness of futurity liesin the ecstasy of the soul in feeling freed from the trammels ofmatter, and unhappiness is the doom of a soul which was full ofremorse at the moment it left the body. But enough, for mypunishment forbids my farther speech."

"Tell me, at least, what is the nature of your punishment?"

"An everlasting weariness. Farewell."

After this long and fanciful digression the reader will no doubt beobliged by my returning to this world.

Count Panin told me that in a few days the empress would leave forher country house, and I determined to have an interview with her,foreseeing that it would be for the last time.

I had been in the garden for a few minutes when heavy rain began tofall, and I was going to leave, when the empress summoned me into anapartment on the ground floor of the palace, where she was walking upand down with Gregorovitch and a maid of honour.

"I had forgotten to ask you," she said, graciously, "if you believethe new calculation of the calendar to be exempt from error?"

"No, your majesty; but the error is so minute that it will notproduce any sensible effect for the space of nine or ten thousandyears."

"I thought so; and in my opinion Pope Gregory should not haveacknowledged any mistake at all. The Pope, however, had much lessdifficulty in carrying out his reform than I should have with mysubjects, who are too fond of their ancient usages and customs.""Nevertheless, I am sure your majesty would meet with obedience.""No doubt, but imagine the grief of my clergy in not being able tocelebrate the numerous saints' days, which would fall on the elevendays to be suppressed. You have only one saint for each day, but wehave a dozen at least. I may remark also that all ancient states andkingdoms are attached to their ancient laws. I have heard that yourRepublic of Venice begins the year in March, and that seems to me, asit were, a monument and memorial of its antiquity--and indeed theyear begins more naturally in March than in January--but does notthis usage cause some confusion?"

"None at all, your majesty. The letters M V, which we adjoin to alldates in January and February, render all mistakes impossible."

"Venice is also noteworthy for its peculiar system of heraldry, bythe amusing form under which it portrays its patron saint, and by thefive Latin words with which the Evangelist is invoked, in which, as Iam told, there is a grammatical blunder which has become respectableby its long standing. But is it true that you do not distinguishbetween the day and night hours?"

"It is, your majesty, and what is more we reckon the day from thebeginning of the night."

"Such is the force of custom, which makes us admire what othernations think ridiculous. You see no inconvenience in your divisionof the day, which strikes me as most inconvenient."

"You would only have to look at your watch, and you would not need tolisten for the cannon shot which announces the close of day."

"Yes, but for this one advantage you have over us, we have two overyou. We know that at twelve o'clock it is either mid-day ormidnight."

The czarina spoke to me about the fondness of the Venetians for gamesof chance, and asked if the Genoa Lottery had been established there."I have been asked," she added, "to allow the lottery to beestablished in my own dominions; but I should never permit it excepton the condition that no stake should be below a rouble, and then thepoor people would not be able to risk their money in it."

I replied to this discreet observation with a profound inclination ofthe head, and thus ended my last interview with the famous empresswho reigned thirty-five years without committing a single mistake ofany importance. The historian will always place her amongst greatsovereigns, though the moralist will always consider her, andrightly, as one of the most notable of dissolute women.

A few days before I left I gave an entertainment to my friends atCatherinhoff, winding up with a fine display of fireworks, a presentfrom my friend Melissino. My supper for thirty was exquisite, and myball a brilliant one. In spite of the tenuity of my purse I feltobliged to give my friends this mark of my gratitude for the kindnessthey had lavished on me.

I left Russia with the actress Valville, and I must here tell thereader how I came to make her acquaintance.

I happened to go to the French play, and to find myself seated nextto an extremely pretty lady who was unknown to me. I occasionallyaddressed an observation to her referring to the play or actors, andI was immensely delighted with her spirited answers. Her expressioncharmed me, and I took the liberty of asking her if she were aRussian.

"No, thank God!" she replied, "I am a Parisian, and an actress byoccupation. My name is Valville; but I don't wonder I am unknown toyou, for I have been only a month here, and have played but once."

"How is that?"

"Because I was so unfortunate as to fail to win the czarina's favour.However, as I was engaged for a year, she has kindly ordered that mysalary of a hundred roubles shall be paid monthly. At the end of theyear I shall get my passport and go."

"I am sure the empress thinks she is doing you a favour in paying youfor nothing."

"Very likely; but she does not remember that I am forgetting how toact all this time."

"You ought to tell her that."

"I only wish she would give me an audience."

"That is unnecessary. Of course, you have a lover."

"No, I haven't."

"It's incredible to me!"

"They say the incredible often happens."

"I am very glad to hear it myself."

I took her address, and sent her the following note the next day:

"Madam,--I should like to begin an intrigue with you. You haveinspired me with feelings that will make me unhappy unless youreciprocate them. I beg to take the liberty of asking myself to supwith you, but please tell me how much it will cost me. I am obligedto leave for Warsaw in the course of a month, and I shall be happy tooffer you a place in my travelling carriage. I shall be able to getyou a passport. The bearer of this has orders to wait, and I hopeyour answer will be as plainly worded as my question."

In two hours I received this reply:

"Sir,--As I have the knack of putting an end to an intrigue when ithas ceased to amuse me, I have no hesitation in accepting yourproposal. As to the sentiments with which you say I have inspiredyou, I will do my best to share them, and to make you happy. Yoursupper shall be ready, and later on we will settle the price of thedessert. I shall be delighted to accept the place in your carriageif you can obtain my expenses to Paris as well as my passport. Andfinally, I hope you will find my plain speaking on a match withyours. Good bye, till the evening."

I found my new friend in a comfortable lodging, and we accosted eachother as if we had been old acquaintances.

"I shall be delighted to travel with you," said she, "but I don'tthink you will be able to get my passport."

"I have no doubt as to my success," I replied, "if you will presentto the empress the petition I shall draft for you."

"I will surely do so," said she, giving me writing materials.

I wrote out the following petition,--

"Your Majesty,--I venture to remind your highness that my enforcedidleness is making me forget my art, which I have not yet learntthoroughly. Your majesty's generosity is therefore doing me aninjury, and your majesty would do me a great benefit in giving mepermission to leave St. Petersburg."

"Nothing more than that?"

"Not a word."

"You say nothing about the passport, and nothing about the journey-money. I am not a rich woman."

"Do you only present this petition; and, unless I am very muchmistaken, you will have, not only your journey-money, but also youryear's salary."

"Oh, that would be too much!"

"Not at all. You do not know Catherine, but I do. Have this copied,and present it in person."

"I will copy it out myself, for I can write a good enough hand.Indeed, it almost seems as if I had composed it; it is exactly mystyle. I believe you are a better actor than I am, and from thisevening I shall call myself your pupil. Come, let us have somesupper, that you may give me my first lesson."

After a delicate supper, seasoned by pleasant and witty talk, MadameValville granted me all I could desire. I went downstairs for amoment to send away my coachman and to instruct him what he was tosay to Zaira, whom I had forewarned that I was going to Cronstadt,and might not return till the next day. My coachman was a Ukrainianon whose fidelity I could rely, but I knew that it would be necessaryfor me to be off with the old love before I was on with the new.

Madame Valville was like most young Frenchwomen of her class; she hadcharms which she wished to turn to account, and a passable education;her ambition was to be kept by one man, and the title of mistress wasmore pleasing in her ears than that of wife.

In the intervals of four amorous combats she told me enough of herlife for me to divine what it had been. Clerval, the actor, had beengathering together a company of actors at Paris, and making heracquaintance by chance and finding her to be intelligent, he assuredher that she was a born actress, though she had never suspected it.The idea had dazzled her, and she had signed the agreement. Shestarted from Paris with six other actors and actresses, of whom shewas the only one that had never played.

"I thought," she said, "it was like what is done at Paris, where agirl goes into the chorus or the ballet without having learnt to singor dance. What else could I think, after an actor like Clerval hadassured me I had a talent for acting and had offered me a goodengagement? All he required of me was that I should learn by heartand repeat certain passages which I rehearsed in his presence. Hesaid I made a capital soubrette, and he certainly could not have beentrying to deceive me, but the fact is he was deceived himself. Afortnight after my arrival I made my first appearance, and myreception was not a flattering one."

"Perhaps you were nervous?"

"Nervous? not in the least. Clerval said that if I could have put onthe appearance of nervousness the empress, who is kindness itself,would certainly have encouraged me."

I left her the next morning after I had seen her copy out thepetition. She wrote a very good hand.

"I shall present it to-day," said she.

I wished her good luck, and arranged to sup with her again on the dayI meant to part with Zaira.

All French girls who sacrifice to Venus are in the same style as theValville; they are entirely without passion or love, but they arepleasant and caressing. They have only one object; and that is theirown profit. They make and unmake an intrigue with a smiling face andwithout the slightest difficulty. It is their system, and if it benot absolutely the best it is certainly the most convenient.

When I got home I found Zaira submissive but sad, which annoyed memore than anger would have done, for I loved her. However, it wastime to bring the matter to an end, and to make up my mind to endurethe pain of parting.

Rinaldi, the architect, a man of seventy, but still vigorous andsensual, was in love with her, and he had hinted to me several timesthat he would be only too happy to take her over and to pay doublethe sum I had given for her. My answer had been that I could onlygive her to a man she liked, and that I meant to make her a presentof the hundred roubles I had given for her. Rinaldi did not likethis answer, as he had not very strong hopes of the girl taking afancy to him; however, he did not despair.

He happened to call on me on the very morning on which I haddetermined to give her up, and as he spoke Russian perfectly he gaveZaira to understand how much he loved her. Her answer was that hemust apply to me, as my will was law to her, but that she neitherliked nor disliked anyone else. The old man could not obtain anymore positive reply and left us with but feeble hopes, but commendinghimself to my good offices.

When he had gone, I asked Zaira whether she would not like me toleave her to the worthy man, who would treat her as his own daughter.

She was just going to reply when I was handed a note from MadameValville, asking me to call on her, as she had a piece of news togive me. I ordered the carriage immediately, telling Zaira that Ishould not be long.

"Very good," she replied, "I will give you a plain answer when youcome back."

I found Madame Valville in a high state of delight.

"Long live the petition!" she exclaimed, as soon as she saw me."I waited for the empress to come out of her private chapel. Irespectfully presented my petition, which she read as she walkedalong, and then told me with a kindly smile to wait a moment. Iwaited, and her majesty returned me the petition initialled in herown hand, and bade me take it to M. Ghelagin. This gentleman gave mean excellent reception, and told me that the sovereign hand orderedhim to give me my passport, my salary for a year, and a hundredducats for the journey. The money will be forwarded in a fortnight,as my name will have to be sent to the Gazette."

Madame Valville was very grateful, and we fixed the day of ourdeparture. Three or four days later I sent in my name to theGazette.

I had promised Zaira to come back, so telling my new love that Iwould come and live with her as soon as I had placed the youngRussian in good hands, I went home, feeling rather curious to hearZaira's determination.

After Zaira had supped with me in perfect good humour, she asked ifM. Rinaldi would pay me back the money I had given far her. I saidhe would, and she went on,--

"It seems to me that I am worth more than I was, for I have all yourpresents, and I know Italian."

"You are right, dear, but I don't want it to be said that I have madea profit on you; besides, I intend to make you a present of thehundred roubles."

"As you are going to make me such a handsome present, why not send meback to my father's house? That would be still more generous. If M.Rinaldi really loves me, he can come and talk it over with my father.You have no objection to his paying me whatever sum I like tomention."

"Not at all. On the contrary, I shall be very glad to serve yourfamily, and all the more as Rinaldi is a rich man."

"Very good; you will be always dear to me in my memory. You shalltake me to my home to-morrow; and now let us go to bed."

Thus it was that I parted with this charming girl, who made me livesoberly all the time I was at St. Petersburg. Zinowieff told me thatif I had liked to deposit a small sum as security I could have takenher with me; but I had thought the matter over, and it seemed to methat as Zaira grew more beautiful and charming I should end bybecoming a perfect slave to her. Possibly, however, I should nothave looked into matters so closely if I had not been in love withMadame Valville.

Zaira spent the next morning in gathering together her belongings,now laughing and now weeping, and every time that she left herpacking to give me a kiss I could not resist weeping myself. When Irestored her to her father, the whole family fell on their kneesaround me. Alas for poor human nature! thus it is degraded by theiron heel of oppression. Zaira looked oddly in the humble cottage,where one large mattress served for the entire family.

Rinaldi took everything in good part. He told me that since thedaughter would make no objection he had no fear of the father doingso. He went to the house the next day, but he did not get the girltill I had left St. Petersburg. He kept her for the remainder of hisdays, and behaved very handsomely to her.

After this melancholy separation Madame Valville became my solemistress, and we left the Russian capital in the course of a fewweeks. I took an Armenian merchant into my service; he had lent me ahundred ducats, and cooked very well in the Eastern style. I had aletter from the Polish resident to Prince Augustus Sulkowski, andanother from the English ambassador for Prince Adam Czartoryski.

The day after we left St. Petersburg we stopped at Koporie to dine;we had taken with us some choice viands and excellent wines. Twodays later we met the famous chapel-master, Galuppi or Buranelli, whowas on his way to St. Petersburg with two friends and an artiste. Hedid not know me, and was astonished to find a Venetian dinnerawaiting him at the inn, as also to hear a greeting in his mothertongue. As soon as I had pronounced my name he embraced me withexclamations of surprise and joy.

The roads were heavy with rain, so we were a week in getting to Riga,and when we arrived I was sorry to hear that Prince Charles was notthere. From Riga, we were four days before getting to Konigsberg,where Madame Valville, who was expected at Berlin, had to leave me.I left her my Armenian, to whom she gladly paid the hundred ducats Iowed him. I saw her again two years later, and shall speak of themeeting in due time.

We separated like good friends, without any sadness. We spent thenight at Klein Roop, near Riga, and she offered to give me herdiamonds, her jewels, and all that she possessed. We were stayingwith the Countess Lowenwald, to whom I had a letter from the PrincessDolgorouki. This lady had in her house, in the capacity ofgoverness, the pretty English woman whom I had known as Campioni'swife. She told me that her husband was at Warsaw, and that he wasliving with Villiers. She gave me a letter for him, and I promisedto make him send her some money, and I kept my word. Little Bettywas as charming as ever, but her mother seemed quite jealous of herand treated her ill.

When I reached Konigsberg I sold my travelling carriage and took aplace in a coach for Warsaw. We were four in all, and my companionsonly spoke German and Polish, so that I had a dreadfully tediousjourney. At Warsaw I went to live with Villiers, where I hoped tomeet Campioni.

It was not long before I saw him, and found him well in health and incomfortable quarters. He kept a dancing school, and had a good manypupils. He was delighted to have news of Fanny and his children. Hesent them some money, but had no thoughts of having them at Warsaw,as Fanny wished. He assured me she was not his wife.

He told me that Tomatis, the manager of the comic opera, had made afortune, and had in his company a Milanese dancer named Catai, whoenchanted all the town by her charms rather than her talent. Gamesof chance were permitted, but he warned me that Warsaw was full ofcard-sharpers. A Veronese named Giropoldi, who lived with an officerfrom Lorrain called Bachelier, held a bank at faro at her house,where a dancer, who had been the mistress of the famous Afflisio atVienna, brought customers.

Major Sadir, whom I have mentioned before, kept another gaming-house,in company with his mistress, who came from Saxony. The Baron de St.Heleine was also in Warsaw, but his principal occupation was tocontract debts which he did not mean to pay. He also lived inVillier's house with his pretty and virtuous young wife, who wouldhave nothing to say to us. Campioni told me of some otheradventurers, whose names I was very glad to know that I might thebetter avoid them.

The day after my arrival I hired a man and a carriage, the latterbeing an absolute necessity at Warsaw, where in my time, at allevents, it was impossible to go on foot. I reached the capital ofPoland at the end of October, 1765.

My first call was on Prince Adam Czartoryski, Lieutenant of Podolia,for whom I had an introduction. I found him before a table coveredwith papers, surrounded by forty or fifty persons, in an immenselibrary which he had made into his bedroom. He was married to a verypretty woman, but had not yet had a child by her because she was toothin for his taste.

He read the long letter I gave him, and said in elegant French thathe had a very high opinion of the writer of the letter; but that ashe was very busy just then he hoped I would come to supper with himif I had nothing better to do.

I drove off to Prince Sulkouski, who had just been appointedambassador to the Court of Louis XV. The prince was the elder offour brothers and a man of great understanding, but a theorist in thestyle of the Abbe St. Pierre. He read the letter, and said he wantedto have a long talk with me; but that being obliged to go out hewould be obliged if I would come and dine with him at four o'clock.I accepted the invitation.

I then went to a merchant named Schempinski, who was to pay me fiftyducats a month on Papanelopulo's order. My man told me that therewas a public rehearsal of a new opera at the theatre, and Iaccordingly spent three hours there, knowing none and unknown to all.All the actresses were pretty, but especially the Catai, who did notknow the first elements of dancing. She was greatly applauded, aboveall by Prince Repnin, the Russian ambassador, who seemed a person ofthe greatest consequence.

Prince Sulkouski kept me at table for four mortal hours, talking onevery subject except those with which I happened to be acquainted.His strong points were politics and commerce, and as he found my minda mere void on these subjects, he shone all the more, and took quitea fancy to me, as I believe, because he found me such a capitallistener.

About nine o'clock, having nothing better to do (a favourite phrasewith the Polish noblemen), I went to Prince Adam, who afterpronouncing my name introduced me to the company. There were presentMonseigneur Krasinski, the Prince-Bishop of Warmia, the ChiefProthonotary Rzewuski, whom I had known at St. Petersburg, thePalatin Oginski, General Roniker, and two others whose barbarousnames I have forgotten. The last person to whom he introduced me washis wife, with whom I was very pleased. A few moments after a fine-looking gentleman came into the room, and everybody stood up. PrinceAdam pronounced my name, and turning to me said, coolly,--

"That's the king."

This method of introducing a stranger to a sovereign prince wasassuredly not an overwhelming one, but it was nevertheless asurprise; and I found that an excess of simplicity may be asconfusing as the other extreme. At first I thought the prince mightbe making a fool of me; but I quickly put aside the idea, and steppedforward and was about to kneel, but his majesty gave me his hand tokiss with exquisite grace, and as he was about to address me, PrinceAdam shewed him the letter of the English ambassador, who was wellknown to the king. The king read it, still standing, and began toask me questions about the Czarina and the Court, appearing to takegreat interest in my replies.

When supper was announced the king continued to talk, and led me intothe supper-room, and made me sit down at his right hand. Everybodyate heartily except the king, who appeared to have no appetite, andmyself, who had no right to have any appetite, even if I had notdined well with Prince Sulkouski, for I saw the whole table hushed tolisten to my replies to the king's questions.

After supper the king began to comment very graciously on my answers.His majesty spoke simply but with great elegance. As he was leavinghe told me he should always be delighted to see me at his Court, andPrince Adam said that if I liked to be introduced to his father, Ihad only to call at eleven o'clock the next morning.

The King of Poland was of a medium height, but well made. His facewas not a handsome one, but it was kindly and intelligent. He wasrather short-sighted, and his features in repose bore a somewhatmelancholy expression; but in speaking, the whole face seemed tolight up. All he said was seasoned by a pleasant wit.

I was well enough pleased with this interview, and returned to myinn, where I found Campioni seated amongst several guests of eithersex, and after staying with them for half an hour I went to bed.

At eleven o'clock the next day I was presented to the great RussianPaladin. He was in his dressing-gown, surrounded by his gentlemen inthe national costume. He was standing up and conversing with hisfollowers in a kindly but grave manner. As soon as his son Adam